Posts tagged ‘momma’

Okay, lame pun. But seriously, I didn’t get my Mom a Mother’s Day gift. And that makes me one crappy son.

I bet my two older brothers are grinning in schadenfreude* pleasure as we speak.

It’s not that I simply forgot about Mother’s Day. Oh believe me, when your wife also becomes a mother, Mother’s Day starts to be more important than Valentine’s Day. To forget Mother’s Day is to disappoint your mom and your wife. Double jeopardy.

Because when momma(s) ain’t happy, no one’s happy.

Last week Sarah and I were at the store and she reminded me to pick up a card for my Mom. But I guess I was having a moment of pride. I didn’t want to get my Mom a Mother’s Day card. I wanted to do something creative. Something amazing. Something that would makes tears stream down her face and make my brothers gnash their teeth in jealousy. Besides, Mother’s Day cards are sooooo typical. I’m not typical. I’m awesome.

Strike that. I’m an idiot.

So here I am – exactly 3 hours and 52 minutes until Mother’s Day – sitting in front of my computer, desperately trying to conjure the creative inspiration that will allow me to write a poem or song or something that honors my Mom in the way she deserves. And I got nothing.

Wait…let me be clear. My inability to produce something for Mother’s Day isn’t because I don’t have anything to write about. It’s quite the opposite. My Mom is too awesome in too many ways and everything I write just sounds lame in comparison to who she is. And there’s that whole macho** image I have to upkeep. A man can’t write something too mushy about his momma or else all his other macho*** buddies will make fun of him. A heart tattoo with “MOM” in the middle is perfectly acceptable. Writing a mushy poem about your mom is not.

And then there’s the fact that I’m just brain fried. I’ve bitten off way more than I can chew lately. Being a full-time worker, daddy, husband and student is hard enough. But it’s also finals week. I’m currently working on a 10 page ethics paper, a 13 page exegesis on a passage in Ephesians, and a study guide for the entire book of Daniel. I also just gave an oral and written presentation on the Christian view of justice.

I don’t think I’ve ever had this much on my shoulders. I worry sometimes that I won’t be able to get it all done; or the lack of sleep and excessive caffeine will catch up to me and I’ll go comatose for a few days. And the question I find myself asking is, “How would my Mom handle all of this?”

And the answer I find myself giving is “She would knock all of it out of the park and handle every aspect with the utmost grace and excellence, because that’s who she is”.

And thus, I now realize the biggest thing that makes my Mom incredible. The overload of responsibility that I’m experiencing for the first time in my life is what my Mom has done continuously since I was old enough to remember. Mom did not and does not do anything half-heartedly. When she’s at work, she works at 150%. When she’s in mom-mode, she mothers at 150%. Every task, every responsibility; every aspect of her life from what I’ve seen has been done with excellence, grace and humility.

But with every strength there is a weakness. My Mom has some incurable diseases. My Mom is an incurable worry-wart when it comes to her friends and family. And the reason why is because of her 150% nature. She cares and loves and prays and is concerned for her friends and family’s well-being more than any human I know.

And I’m not just saying that because it’s almost Mother’s Day. It’s the God’s honest truth.

She’s also an incurable giver. If there’s a job to be done, she’ll do it. If there’s someone in need, she’ll give to the point of self-sacrifice and will never complain or ask for anything in return.

She’s like the human version of the Giving Tree. Only with much more sass.

So here’s to you, Mom. You’re much more awesome than anything I can ever write. And here’s me, wishing and hoping that at least some of that…whatever it is that makes you, you…got transferred to me. And at the risk of being made fun of at the gym next week****, I love you more than the amount of blue in the sky.

Happy Mother’s Day.

Sorry I didn’t get you anything.

* Schadenfreude – German for “happiness at the misfortune of others”. It’s arguably the best word in the German language.